Riddled to the Core
by yaoidarkness16
Summary: Adopted by the Weaselys as a baby, Ariana never felt like she belonged. How will she react when she finds out she's Voldemort's daughter? Will things during the course of the series change? Of course! (Starts in the Chamber of Secrets)
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

**~Disclaimer:**

**I don't own the Harry Potter franchise. They are all owned by J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Warner's Brothers, and David Heyman. Please be sure to favorite, follow, review, and enjoy this fanfic.**

**~Important Details:**

**I thought this would be interesting: a story where the Weasley's adopt a little girl from her birth and they have no idea who her parents are. It shall be interesting for all of you to read about her reactions and which side she will end up on.**

**I wish and hope for Ariana to be captivating, flawed, and a character that you feel for. A lot of things are going to go down with this girl and not all of them are going to be jim dandy. That means lots of character development and potential character death. Things will develop in different ways hopefully in interesting ways.**

**~Story: Riddled to the Core~**

**~Chapter One: Prologue~**

Fire glittered around the building showing off its impressive colors of vermillion and canary yellow. Beams, staircases, roofing, and furniture began to be consumed by the flames. It slowly licked up the oxygen inside the building emitting smoke and carbon dioxide. Not a soul could breath in it without difficulty doing so, unfortunately two souls of only a few months old and an eight year old were trapped there...

There was a team of wizard rescuers there to go and safe the infant or any other soul trapped in there and also put out the flames. There the Weasley's were with Percy being four years old and clutching tightly to his mother, the twins two years of age and watching in fascination, Bill who was ten stuck close to his Dad, and the Mr. and Mrs. were worried beyond believe because their son Charlie who was eight was in the fire, trapped.

Out came one of the wizards with a shaking and scared eight year old Charlie in his grasp, the Weasley parents rushed over to grab their son in their loving arms. Mrs. Weasley didn't dare let go of her crying son as the rest of their many boys ran over to their parents clueless as to what's going on.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Mrs. Weasley cried out hugging her child tighter.

The wizard was uncomfortable as held up an object in a small blanket. He looked as if he was trying to get something out without coming off as imposing. It was very difficult for the man who wasn't that familiar with the Weasleys.

"What's wrong, Zokan?" Mr. Weasley asked using his surname for the simple face that was mentioned above.

Mr. Zokan held the blanket with the item in it in front of him to open. Mr. Weasley hesitantly opened the blanket and revealed a sleeping infant to the dark sky and for all to see. The infant fell asleep when Mr. Zokan went looking for her mother and father and they were nowhere to be found.

"It seems that this child is indeed proved herself as a witch, magic saved her life and kept her from dying in that fire," the man explained, "However, I couldn't find her parents, I don't even know who her parents are..."

Mr. Weasley looked very hesitant, but Mrs. Weasley over heard their conversation and knew that she was a baby girl by Mr. Zokan's word choice. She had always wanted a daughter seeing as she's tried five times for a girl and ended up with six boys instead, they didn't even end up with one girl out of all Mr. and Mrs. Weasley tries. It was rather sad and she supposed adoption was the way to go.

"Oh Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed taking a look at the little girl. "Isn't she precious? Let's keep her, please!"

Mr. Weasley was quite hesitant yet again as he looked back and forth between his sons and the little girl wrapped in a blanket in front of them. He knew his wife wanted nothing more than a little girl to pamper and love. Mr. Weasley finally relinquished and said yes since the man has always had a warm heart.

Adopted as Ariana Weasley she was born as Amara Riddle with quite a story ahead of her. And this, my darling children, is how our fantastic tale begins.

* * *

**•~xXx~•**

* * *

**_•Twelve Years Later•_**

The sky is a beautiful array of colors ranging between red and yellow since the sun is setting. The grassy plains are so serene swaying and blowing in the gentle breeze. The chickens are playing with other chickens and crowing as they were embedded in their coops. Everything is so peaceful that people would simply love to be out here even for a few minutes in their short lives.

_BOOM!_

Fireworks and many more blasting items flys high into the sky causing everyone within a ten mile radius to hear the tell tale stream of booms. Little Ariana is running for her life from her older brothers who are absolutely livid. She ruined their little prank for their pretentious older brother.

"ARI!" Fred and George roar over the loud and continuous booms.

All it does is make her run even faster. She runs like the wild wind making her lungs burn, her tiny little girl legs feel as if they're on fire, and panic rise in her blood stream.

One might ask why she did it in the first place. That's a good a question; she did it simply for revenge. Fred nicked her favorite miniature ceramic seahorse statue in order to break into the shack near their house in order to acquire their fireworks. But only to realize that they destroyed her possession for nothing since the fireworks weren't even in the shack! She wasn't going to let that fly and she didn't, so in retaliation she ruined their prank.

Eventually the eleven year old finds a decent hiding space for herself: the shack she comes across. With laboring breathes she knocks into the door fiercely since all of the inertia causes her to go right through the doors rather noisily. She quickly shuts them and looks around to find a hiding spot... any kind of hiding spot.

She climbs up the supporting beams using all of the strength in those tiny muscles on the lean and childish body. When she rolled on top of the big plank above. She tries to calm her breathing and puts a hand over her lips as the twin boys enter the shack. Even though the continuous booms and explosions are going off she still feels the paranoia of being caught edging on her insanity.

Fred and George look around the area desperately to try and find their younger sister who's the most elusive and evasive Ariana Weasley. She has always been great with escaping and worming her way out of difficult situations, like this one per say.

"Where did she go?" Fred demands whilst searching on the ground.

The two finally come across an area which they feel might be where she went. It's a little burrow dug out big enough for a tiny person like Jenna to fit through. So, that's how the twin pranksters come to the conclusion that they need to check outside again.

"She's outside! Let's get her!" Fred says.

Ariana hears a soft slam of the wooden shack and she lets out a much needed sigh. The sheer waves of relief rolling and crashing through her is tremendous. The little girl may be brave and ready to take on tough challenges ahead, but she isn't stupid. She's not going to face the wrath of Fred and George when she's the cause of one of their pranks going array. Ariana has at least one thing in common with the boys, she plays for keeps and no bad deed goes unpunished.

"Now, how am I going to get down there?" She sighs and kind of whines.

She tries the practical approach; grabbing the support beam she used to get up there in the first place and trying to shimmy down there. But, the continuous booms of the fireworks causes the entire shack to shake especially the support beams.

"Whoa... whoa... AHHHHHHHH!" She screams.

In the next second she begins to fall. Ariana tried to grasp onto the beam for dear life, but Lady Luck is not on her side today and she's falling now. The loud shrill scream is discovered by the twins who are hiding and made it seem like they left to draw out Jenna. However, Fred and George didn't expect her to fall from the rafter up there to her doom.

The tiny body nearly drops plummeting like a hard rock until she crashes to the ground at a very sudden stop. She's panting softly and refuses to move a muscles; for some reason she didn't feel a _damn_ thing. When she fell she was hoping to any kind of god out there that she wouldn't die and in her imagination she imagined enveloping her body in something to cushion the fall.

She breathes heavily as her brothers emerge in panic. They're worried to death and for good reason; she plummeted to the hard ground on her back from at least thirty feet.

"Ari!"

"Ari, are you okay?!"

"ARIANA!"

This is when she decides to stand on shaky feet looking a little dazed. She's done some insane things, but nothing that insane before in her short eleven years. The boys, of course, are surprised beyond belief that she's able to move at all much less stand.

"I'm fine." She says softly. "... I feel fine."

They didn't believe her, but when their mother came in that's when she worries them all. She began to fake it, lean on George for support and gives out convincing high pitch wails...

The girl ever since she could remember has been able to manipulate and steer her mother or father in the direction she wants in order to avoid trouble. She does it with such skill that her twin trouble making brothers often ventures for her secret.

The young girl and her twin brothers are getting the lecture of their lives as Ariana continued to pretend she's in agony to evade punishment. Fred and George are studying the area and their sister wondering how to make an escape or stop the lecture all together.

"Do you have any idea what kind of danger you put your little sister in?! Huh, do you both just only care about your pranks so much you would injure a family member?! Are you that conceided?! You got her injured! And Ariana... what were doing up there in the first place?! ..." Mrs. Weasley continues on with her rant.

The plump woman is red in the face as she's screaming at the top of her lungs. She isn't paying attention seeing as she couldn't see properly, so Fred and George had their hands clapped together in unison praying for their manipulative and clever sister to get them out of the lecture and soon to be punishment.

Ariana shakes her head. They nod their head. She shakes her head again and gives them a furtive look. They're practically on their knees begging for her to comply with them. She bites the bottom of her lip and reluctantly nods and Fred and George had such large smiles of elation. They _owe_ her for this one and she _will_ collect.

The girl wails; high pitched mewls of pain erupts from her lips and her mother looks at her like she has taken a broom ride with Harry Potter himself to the moon and back. The woman knows her little girl doesn't wail and carry on like that unless she's in _serious_ pain.

"Ari-Ariana." She says softly still taken aback.

"I... just... it hurts so much." She says so softly still crying.

That's the cue for the boys to run like the wind through the front door not that far away. They couldn't be silent due to the fact that they have to be quick. Ooh, Mrs. Weasley is livid with a scream of their names the plump woman chased after the boys out of the house leaving little Jenna all by herself.

"Fred! George!" The woman exclaims.

Eventually Ariana is in her bed and she is bored as to what to do now. She always needs to be entertained and that's why she's backwards on her bed staring at her ceiling with her bare feet against the wall. She's counting the little individual plasters on her ceiling since she's so bored.

Her roommate and twin brother, Ron, has his narrowed gaze directed right at her. He's always felt this intense feeling of envy of his technically younger by two seconds sister. His blue eyes bore right into her profile with such intensity that it's uncomfortable.

"You know, Ronnie Ron," she says in her usual airy and little girl voice, "if you keep staring at me like that someone will think you're in love with me."

Ron shook his head and flushes before saying. "Oh shut it, Ariana."

Then that's when the little girl rolls on her back and faces her favorite brother and the one that never leaves her side since the fit the same age bracket their never split up. She wishes to know what's wrong with him, so she could figure it out.

"Aww, what's got your wand in a knot? Come on, tell your twin sis all your troubles. I promise I'll listen." She says in the most playful tone.

He grumbles and turns over on his bed trying to ignore her. Of course, Ariana isn't going to take that especially from someone she considers close to her. So, the girl who seems to know no boundaries hopped off her bed and leaps right on top of the space beside her twin.

"Bloody hell, Ariana!" He exclaims in surprise.

She begins to rub his forearm lightly trying to calm him down as she giggles contently. "Oh calm down, I'm just being fun. Now, tell all about your problems; I promise I won't laugh."

After a short pause he confesses. "Why are you the one who gets away with everything?! You don't even try... it's like a.. like a gift! How do you even do it?"

She's trying very hard not to laugh in his face, she promised after all. This is _all_ of what Ron is upset about? This is it? Nothing more than the simple fact that she understands the basis of human weaknesses, behaviors and exploits them to her advantage? Wow, Ariana doesn't know what to say to this obvious jealousy.

"Ah, you promised." He says putting a finger at her face since the expression she has on gave away that she is one second away from laughing until her stomach aches.

She never did like it when somebody stuck any sort of object in her face whether it be a human finger or a wand, she didn't care. That's why she makes a big scale bite at his skinny little digit, which of course Ron pulls back quickly to get away from the moist cavern with lines that have various types of teeth.

"You were going to bite me!" He says looking offended.

"I've always told you Ronnie Ron," she smiles with a chipper air to her, "never stick your finger or anything else in my face. For one thing it's rude. Now, don't be such a jealous fuddy-duddy; you're awesome in your own right."

"Don't patronize me." He says turning over on his side.

She pouts lightly before she tackles him and initiates quite the intense tickle fight. With lots of laughs and jabs eventually Ariana comes out on top and as the victor. Ron is upside down, face down having difficulty breathing, and rather humiliated. Ariana on the other hand sits cross legged, arms are crossed, and a playful smile graces her pouty lips.

"Ugh..., get off Ariana I can't breathe!" Ron cries out.

"Now, that I have your full attention." She says. "Ronnie Ron, since you are feeling so left out I'll let you come with me to meet Fred and George to go… somewhere tonight… with Dad's flying car."

"REALLY?!" Ron exclaims knocking her right off of him onto the floor.

"Ahh! Ugh..." She says in pain before composing herself. "Yes, they're expecting me. You'll have to go by the window to meet them… I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

He thanks her, picks her up, and spins her around a bit for a moment before going out of the window. A large cute smile is still on her lips, waving with her tiny hands, and her eyes are closed when her brother is still on the window sill. It then turns into a bitter sweet expression and her eyes are a bit saddened.

She then turns to face her mirror with still sad eyes. The girl has such dark and big eyes since she's still a little girl and her face hasn't grown completely in. She also has dark brunette hair in very curly Q's that are naturally that way. Ariana has pale and fair skin with an oval face shape, light pink and pouty lips, decent cheekbones, dark round eyes and a normal sized forehead. The girl dresses plainly mostly due to her families lack of wealth, but at this age she couldn't be bothered with high fashion clothes.

Ariana is a fairly average looking girl and she knows that.

"Humph." She scoffs with her dark eyes still seemingly lifeless. "They think I'm just their dumb little sister... Boy, are they wrong."

**Author's Note: Thoughts, comments, or concerns? Curious about Jenna's development? Should I continue?**


	2. The Harry Rescue Team

**Author's Note:**

**~Important Detail:**

**No pressure or anything, but… um I would really appreciate a review from any of you because last chapter I didn't get any. So, naturally I want one because I'm curious as to what all of you think. Also, so I don't sound like demanding brat thank you for all of you that are following and favoriting my fic so far. That makes me happy. :—)**

**~Chapter Two: The Harry Rescue Team~**

There Harry sleeps in a bed given to him almost exactly a year ago for purposes unknown to him; he assumes it was because of fear at the time. Either way, he's here now in his own personal slice of hell he's forced to call home and he's absolutely miserable. No one's contacted him all summer and it's because of that stupid elf that refuses to inform him as to why he did it other than to protect him and keep him safe. Harry doesn't know what to do with himself to keep occupied or to quell the internal thrumming and growing ache of loneliness in his heart.

_Put-put… chug-chug_

Dark eyebrows rose on the pale forehead. Harry's face is left agape when he sees his very dearest best friend in a flying car telling the older brothers to park or they'll run into into the red brick setting extended above the door.

"A-Ariana?" He says in whispered surprise and elation at seeing his best friend in the whole wide Wizarding and Muggle world.

"Hey!" She says waving with absolute joy on her face.

"Hurry up, hook the grapple onto the cage. The Muggles could wake up any minute!" Ron says to his twin sister.

She jumps slightly before she does exactly what she came here to do. She grapples it on the cage, still smiles at Harry in the most friendliest of ways, backs up invading Ron's personal bubble, and gives the other set of twins a thumbs up.

In the next moment there's a loud metallic urgent _crunch_ and all of them cringe. That's when Harry— hearing the rapid foot falls of the of his aunt and uncle— shoved his trunk in the popped trunk of the car, then throws Hedwig with the three that's there to rescue him and then he starts to take the leap of faith. However, mid-jump a big meaty hand grasps his ankle.

"Ack!" Harry exclaims trying to kick at him with his other leg, but he doesn't want to slip and fall.

"Come on, Harry!" Ariana grunts in exertion as she yanks hard.

Ron, Fred and George attempts to help, but to no avail they are no match for both Petunia and Vernon.

"I won't let you or your bloody pigeon get away!" Vernon's puffy red face shouts.

"Get off of me!"

"DRIVE!" Ariana screams.

The engine roars to life and Harry's body sways flopping all around as his small twelve year old hands grasp onto the thin arms of his best friend's for dear life. Then when gravity's in their favor and the car takes a deep turn to the opposite side Harry falls onto both Ron and Ariana's lap. He then scrambles to own space.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" She exclaims hugging him tightly around his shoulders with the biggest smile on her young face.

The gang of troublemakers sneak up to the unevenly and intricately stacked home where the other siblings and parents lie sleeping since it's the wee hours of the morning. Fred and George are the first to check if the coast is clear since they've done similar activities countless times before.

The twelve year old began to lob the green apple up and down in the palm of her hand with the other in her tiny little girl hip. A smirk is evident on her pale skin as she takes a bite of the apple.

"Piece of pie." She says.

The boys' expressions are full of shock as their eyes are as wide as saucers. A single dark eyebrow rises in confusion before she turns around to see why they look like they're witnessing a polar bear riding a Hippogriff.

In an instance Ariana's expression mirrors her brothers and best friend's as a small squeak leaves her lips because of the shock. She, Ron, Harry, Fred, and George look at the woman in apprehension of quite the roaring lecture that might burst an eardrum.

Ariana goes right between Harry and Ron opting to clutch onto her bestie with pouting lips and big watery dark eyes. It's quite the defensive mechanism; if you look most adorable— depending on the individual— you are most likely to be taken pity upon especially when she knows fully well her mother adores the person she's gripping and get out of the kill… er the lecture.

"And what was a piece… of… pie?" Mrs. Weasley says with deadly calmness.

Her bottom lip quivers slightly.

"Ah! No crying!" She exclaims with a wagging finger as Ariana buries deeper into Harry's shoulder much to his dismay since it's becoming painful. "Oh Harry dear you can go up to bed if you wish."

Harry shakes his head slightly seeing as he's unable to. So, Mrs. Weasley's expression turns livid again towards her children.

"Now, how did dear Harry get here?!"

"Th-They were starving him and locked him in a cage with bars." Ariana says. "I… we couldn't just leave him like that."

It's true, Harry is naturally a small boy— even Ariana is taller than him— but the time spent living under the Dursley's roof when being punished he's practically skin and bones. Sometimes the Wizarding World wonders how he survives living with Muggles… if only they understood the real story.

"Well, you, Fred, George, and Ron are lucky that I don't do that to you! Your beds were empty! No note! illegal car stolen! I'm surprised you weren't killed by driving in the air!" She lectures.

It goes on for twenty minutes… twenty minutes of nothing but yelling and the brunette girl eventually unclasps Harry and just tries to endure it. Her expression is blank and unreadable… if Mrs. Weasley could see straight, Ron, Fred, George or Harry were paying attention they would be a little unnerved.

Harry on the other hand tries to ignore the screams by checking out the unique home. The newbie to magic is absolutely fascinated.

* * *

**•~xXx~•**

* * *

Harry's not bored one bit as Ariana and Ron take a nap. He's checking out the Chudley Cannon posters, bed spread colors, and small figurines, before looking the girl's side: the Weird Sisters posters, colors of purple and pink on the bedspread, and a small ceramic statues of unicorn. It's contrastingly different from each other. Harry began to explore the house curiously.

He comes across the clock with all the hands actually being spoons and little images of the children that's been born in the house. His green eyes are in fascination as they come across the kitchen cleaning itself and making breakfast for the family. That's when at the corner of his eyes he comes across a streak of red hair.

"Hello." Harry says in a friendly tone of voice.

The girl looks as if someone told her that apocalypse is coming and she only five minutes to escape and live. Harry doesn't know what he did wrong as she ran up the spiraling steps trying to avoid being detected at all costs.

"That's Ginny." Ariana yawns feebly right behind him as her mother looks livid behind them. "She's pathologically shy when it comes to you."

She scratches her back and rubs her eyes resembling a little girl strongly as she sits down and offers Harry a seat whilst Ron sits on her other side. The Boy Who Lived complies and watches as she looks as if she's in total ease even bough Mrs. Weasley looks as if her four most meddlesome children are souls and she's the Grim Reaper.

"Our house isn't much, but it's home." She says in her usual cheery tone while she puts her feet upon the table earning her a glare from her mother.

"It's amazing." Harry says in awe as egg, bacon, and toast is served to him.

Breakfast continues on as Ariana engages Harry in conversation and regales him on tales of her summer and the fun she's had. With happiness, big smiles, and an amused giggle from her Harry more than ever wished to be apart of her family, be amongst the Wizarding World, and to be surrounded by people who love him.

"So, Harry, what is the function of a rubber duck?" Mr. Weasley asks.

Bath time… obviously. Harry wishes to say that, but he can't find his voice to do so and plus the boy isn't cruel. He's always been aware of Muggle things— he's grown up and a painfully ordinary Muggle home… duh— so he'd rather talk about Wizard things. None the less, he answers a little bit awkwardly.

Suddenly, there's a loud squawking and everyone looks to the window.

"Ugh, it's that blasted bird again." Ron says.

Harry quirks his brow wondering what he means when Earl crashes into the window and dropping to the bushes. Then the poor creature flies back up and goes through the _open_ window dropping many letters on the kitchen table.

Ariana grabs hers along with the rest of the Weasleys before Harry slowly does the same. Dark eyes flick through the list and her nose crinkles at the list of books required by their new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Those are _way_ too many books. She doesn't know how their parents are going to afford them.

"Eww, that old nasty piece a—" Her voice is still light and chipper which severely contrasts with her tone.

"Ariana!" Mrs. Weasley says in shock at her daughter.

"What?" She says incredulously. "I didn't say anything bad… yet."

The men and boys at the table are confused as to why she was about to curse out someone when their eyes see the name of the person on the parchment. However, Harry still doesn't get it; Lockheart hasn't ever come up in conversation.

"What's the problem?" Harry asks anyone who will answer.

Mrs. Weasley sighs dreamily. "It's Gilderoy Lockhart… for some odd reason my daughter can't stand him. She's must be mad to not be charmed by him."

"It's just because both Mum and Ginny won't stop admiring him… Ariana likes to get them angry." Ron whispers with a hand blocking his mouth to Harry.

For that he gets elbowed in the ribs before the girl responds. "No, it's not… he's pretty ugly."

Harry begins to snicker as the two engage in a bit of a slap fight and poking match. With Ariana's swifter movements, bonier body parts, and experience she quickly gets Ron screeching for mercy. Unfortunately, for the two twins Ron isn't the only one screeching because Mrs. Weasley is yelling at them to stop.

"Take that outside if you're going to continue like that! The both of you!" She shouts.

Eventually, breakfast is over. Now, Ariana has to deal with attempting to to entertain her guest, so they both won't be bored. For her it's a tough task considering this isn't all new and a big fascination, but for Harry it's not difficult at all.

"So, do you want help me de-gnome the yard?" Ariana asks Harry with her usual closed mouth bright smile.

"De-gnome?" Harry asks skeptically.

"Just watch." She says finishing putting her plate in the sink.

With Harry just a few feet behind she walks outside in the front lawn with the green and freshly trimmed hedge. Ron, Fred and George are already doing it and Ariana joins in by picking up the little guys their heads and lobbing it over the hedge.

"Whoa! What are you guys doing?!" Harry says fearful for the gnomes.

"It's okay; they're fine… in fact they're so jim-dandy they coming back." Ariana says in fake bitterness with a playful wink.

Harry witnesses himself that the annoying creatures in fact are fine and he soon joins in on the merriment of de-gnoming the little rascals. Then the Boy Who Lived gasps in pain from the small amount of blood drawn from the little pest.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you… they bite." She giggles lightly at his scowl and how he's sucking the injured appendage.

Soon enough, they're done with that and Ariana ends up having to wrap Harry's pointer finger with some medical tape. The dark haired girl is so elated she has her best friend to curve her boredom and so is the dark haired boy. However, happiness doesn't last forever….

**Author's Note:** **Be sure to review and tell me your thoughts and hopes for this story. Especially with Harry and Ariana being besties. :—P****  
**


	3. The Diary

**~Chapter Three: The Diary~**

Harry, Ariana, Ron, Fred, and George are planning to go up the hill to a small paddock the Weasleys owned. It's surrounded by trees that blocks it from view of the village below, meaning that they could practice Quidditch there, as long as they didn't fly too high.

They can't use real Quidditch balls, which would be hard to explain if they possibly escaped and flown away over the village; instead they're throwing apples for one another to catch. They took turns riding Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand, which was easily the best broom; Ron's old Shooting Star is often outstripped by passing butterflies.

Five minutes later they are marching up the hill, broomsticks over their shoulders. They have asked Percy if he wants to join them, but he's said he's busy. Harry has only seen Percy at mealtimes so far; he stays shut in his room the rest of the time.

"Wish I knew what he was up to." Says Fred, frowning. "He's not himself. His exam results came the day before you did; twelves and he hardly gloated at all."

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels." George explains, seeing Harry's puzzled look. "Bill got twelve, too. If we're not careful, we'll have another Head Boy in the family. I don't think I could stand the shame."

Bill is the oldest Weasley brother. He and the next brother, Charlie, had already left Hogwarts. Harry has never met either of them, but knows that Charlie is in Romania studying dragons and Bill is in Egypt working for the wizard's bank, Gringotts. Ariana and last years' events explained that just fine for him.

"Dunno how Mum and Dad are going to afford all our school stuff this year." Says George after a while. "Five sets of Lockhart books! And Ginny needs robes and a wand and everything…."

Harry says nothing. He feels a bit awkward especially when they speak of their finances. Stored in an underground vault at Gringotts in London is a small fortune that his parents had left him. Of course, it's only in the Wizarding World that he has money; you couldn't use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts in Muggle shops. He has never mentioned his Gringotts bank account to the Dursleys; he doesn't think their horror of anything connected with magic would stretch to a large pile of gold.

Ariana doesn't mind; she just doesn't let her mind linger on unpleasant things.

Mrs. Weasley wakes them all early the following Wednesday. After a quick half a dozen bacon sandwiches each, they pull on their coats and Mrs. Weasley takes a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece and peers inside.

"We're running low, Arthur." She sighs. "We'll have to buy some more today…. Ah well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!"

And she offers him the flowerpot. Harry stares at them all watching him and Ariana nods her head in a motion for him to continue as she temporarily forgets that he doesn't understand magic like her family does.

"W-what am I supposed to do?" He stammers.

"He's never traveled by Floo Powder." Says Ron suddenly. "Sorry, Harry, I forgot."

"Never?" Says Mr. Weasley. "But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"

"I went on the Underground—"

"Really?" Says Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Were there escapators? How exactly -"

"Not now, Arthur." Says Mrs. Weasley. "Floo Powder's a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if you've never used it before -"

"He'll be all right, Mum." Says Fred. "Harry, watch us first."

He takes a pinch of glittering powder out of the flowerpot, steps up to the fire, and throws the powder into the flames.

With a roar, the fire turns emerald green and rises higher than Fred, who steps right into it, shouts, "Diagon Alley!" and vanishes.

"You must speak clearly, dear." Mrs. Weasley tells Harry as George dips his hand into the flowerpot. "And be sure to get out at the right grate…."

"The right what?" Says Harry nervously as the fire roars and whips George out of sight, too.

"Well, there are an awful lot of wizard fires to choose from, you know, but as long as you've spoken clearly—"

"He'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss." Says Mr. Weasley, helping himself to Floo Powder, too.

"But, dear, if he got lost, how would we ever explain to his aunt and uncle?"

"They wouldn't mind." Harry reassures her. "Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney, don't worry about that."

"Well ... all right ... you go after Arthur." Says Mrs. Weasley. "Now, when you get into the fire, say where you're going."

"And keep your elbows tucked in." Ron advises. "And your eyes shut." Says Mrs. Weasley. "The soot—"

"Don't fidget." Says Ariana. "Or you might well fall out of the wrong fireplace—"

"But don't panic and get out too early; wait until you see Fred and George."

Trying hard to bear all this in mind, Harry takes a pinch of Floo powder and walks to the edge of the fire. He takes a deep breath, scattered the powder into the flames, and steps forward; the fire feels like a warm breeze; he opens his mouth and immediately swallows a lot of hot ash.

"D-Dia-gon Alley." He coughs.

Ariana blinks her milky brown eyes, looks to her family, and then steps forward with a soft smile on her face. She hopes her bestie is alright; it's not like you find a best friend just around the corner… they're pretty rare and a dime a dozen.

"I hope you see, Harry. Now off you go Ariana." Mrs. Weasley says softly.

She takes a small portion, throws it into the fire watching the pretty green light that flickers, and steps in with a small and confident smile.

"Diagon Alley!" She exclaims swatting the smoke so she could speak clearly.

Then the sensation she feels traveling through the tunnels is unreal. She feels like she would either vomit or scream her lungs out. She hates traveling by floo powder and wonders how anyone could possibly enjoy it. The loops, the winds, the spins, and the turns are just awful.

* * *

**~•xXx•~**

* * *

Harry, Ariana, Ron, and Hermione stroll off along the winding, cobbled street. The bag of gold, silver, and bronze jangling cheerfully in Harry's pocket is clamoring to be spent, so he buys four large strawberry and-peanut butter ice creams, which they slurp happily as they wander up the alley, examining the fascinating shop windows. Ron gazes longingly at a full set of Chudley Cannon robes in the windows of Quality Quidditch Supplies and Ariana is staring exotic pets wishing she could have a cut little baby dragon until Hermione drags them off to buy ink and parchment next door.

In Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, they meet Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, who are stocking up on Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks, and in a tiny junk shop full of broken wands, lopsided brass scales, and old cloaks covered in potion stains they found Percy, deeply immersed in a small and deeply boring book called Prefects Who Gained Power.

"A study of Hogwarts prefects and their later careers." Ron reads aloud off the back cover. "That sounds fascinating…."

"Go away." Percy snaps.

"'Course, he's very ambitious, Percy, he's got it all planned out…. He wants to be Minister of Magic…." Ron tells Hermione and Harry in an undertone as they leave Percy to it.

An hour later, they head for Flourish and Blotts. They are by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approach it, they see to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this is proclaimed by a large banner stretching across the upper windows:

_GILDEROY LOCKHART  
will be signing copies of his autobiography MAGICAL ME  
today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M._

"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squeals. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"

"Boring…." Sighs Ariana with her usual high and feminine tone and that earns a pointed look from Hermione.

The crowd seems to be made up mostly of witches around Mrs. Weasley's age.

A harrassed-looking wizard stands at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies…. Don't push, there… mind the books, now…."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione squeeze inside. A long line winds right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart is signing his books. They each grab a copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 2 and sneak up the line to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing with Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

"Oh, there you are, good." Says Mrs. Weasley and she sounds breathless and keeps patting her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute…."

Gilderoy Lockhart comes slowly into view, sits at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart is wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matches his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat is set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.

A short, irritable-looking man is dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emits puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.

"Out of the way, there." He snarls at Ariana, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the Daily Prophet!"

Harry and Ron have to steady her considering the man's bony elbow nearly takes her down along with the line of people behind her like a set of dominos. She huffs at that move and it of course provokes a slightly larger reaction from the protective twin brother.

"Big deal, you hit my sister!" Ron says a bit angrily.

Gilderoy Lockhart hears him. He looks up. He sees Ron, he sees Ariana, and then he sees Harry. He stares.

Then he leaps to his feet and positively shouts. "It can't be, Harry Potter?"

The crowd parts, whispering excitedly; Lockhart dives forward, seizes Harry's arm, and pulls him to the front. The crowd bursts into applause. Harry's face burns as Lockhart shakes his hand for the photographer, who is clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys.

"Nice big smile, Harry." Says Lockhart, through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."

When he finally lets go of Harry's hand, Harry can hardly feel his fingers. He tries to sidle back over to the Weasleys, but Lockhart throws an arm around his shoulders and clamps him tightly to his side.

Ariana doesn't like this; she can clearly see the uncomfortable look on Harry's face and she just doesn't like Lockhart. She sees past the glittering smile, the too good to be true hair, and the false consideration for his fans. This isn't the first time she's seen him strike a pose solely for the camera….

"Ladies and gentlemen," he says loudly, waving for quiet, "what an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!

"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography— which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge—" the crowd applauds again and Ariana rolls her eyes. "He had no idea," Lockhart continues, giving Harry a little shake that makes his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheers and claps— Ariana groans loudly in frustration which is drowned by the cheering— and Harry finds himself being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their weight, he manages to make his way out of the limelight to the edge of the room, where Ariana makes her way over to where he is.

"You have these." Harry mumbles to her, tipping the books into her tiny arms. "I'll buy my own—"

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Says a voice Harry and Ariana have no trouble recognizing.

He straightens up and finds himself face-to-face with Draco Malfoy, who is wearing his usual sneer.

"Famous Harry Potter." Says Malfoy. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone, just because you revel and _delight_ in attention doesn't mean you have to act all jealous when someone else is in the limelight." Says Ariana cooly.

"Still Potter's side-kick, are you?" Drawls Malfoy with a smirk leering at her.

Ariana goes scarlet as Ron and Hermione fight their way over, both clutching stacks of Lockhart's books.

"Oh, it's you." Says Ron, looking at Malfoy as if he is something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley." Retorts Malfoy. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ron goes as red as Ariana. Hermione— who happens to show up just now alongside the man— gets the load Ron's books into her already full arms. The redhead attempts to lunge after Malfoy, but Harry holds him back.

"Ron!" Says Mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well… Arthur Weasley."

It's Mr. Malfoy. He stands with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.

"Lucius." Says Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear." Says Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He reaches into Ariana's bag hanging from her arm and extracts from large stack the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of Standard Book of Spell: Grade Two.

"Obviously not." Mr. Malfoy says. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard-kind if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley flushes darker than either Ariana or Ron.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard-kind, Malfoy." He says.

"Clearly." Says Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who are watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower."

There is a rustle and a crash as Ariana's large bag of books goes flying; Mr. Weasley has thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backward into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spell books come thundering down on all their heads; there is a yell of, "Get him, Dad!" from Fred or George and don't forget Ariana; Mrs. Weasley is shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!"; the crowd stampedes backward, knocking more shelves over; "Gentlemen, please - please!" cries the assistant, and then, louder than all "Break it up, there, gents, break it up—"

Hagrid is wading toward them through the sea of books. In an instant he has pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley has a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy has been hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of Toadstools. He's still holding Ariana's old spell book. He thrusts it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl take your book it's the best your father can give you." Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckons to Draco and sweeps from the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur." Says Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet as he straightens his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter. Bad blood, that's what it is, come on now, let's get outta here."

The assistant looks as though he wants to stop them leaving, but he barely comes up to Hagrid's waist and seems to think better of it. They hurry up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs. Weasley beside herself with fury.

"A fine example to set for your children… brawling in public… what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought—"

"He was pleased." Says Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report… said it was all publicity."

But it is a subdued group that heads back to the fireside in the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry, the Weasleys, and all their shopping would be traveling back to the Burrow using Floo Powder. They said good-bye to the Grangers, who are leaving the pub for the Muggle street on the other side; Mr. Weasley starts to ask them how bus stops work, but stops quickly at the look on Mrs. Weasley's face.

Ariana looks down and notices a small and cute little leather bound diary among her possessions. An expression of wonderment adorns her face….

**~Author's Note: I would appreciate it if any of you reviewed my story and your thoughts on Ariana and her soon to be big involvement in this story. Does it make any of you speculate the kind of things Tom Riddle will write back to his daughter? Or is it all a bunch of crap you don't care about?**


End file.
